Constant-mesh change-spee gear



J. WARD.

CONSTANT MESH CHANGE SPEED GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED 0120.20. 1918.

'1 ,333,952. Patentpd Mar.16,1920. .z'

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- l Ml f5 4 5 gll J. WARD.

CONSTANT MESH CHANGE SPEED GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC=20, 1918.

1,333,952. Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

3'SHEETSSHEET 2.

J. WARD.

CONSTANT MESH CHANGE SPEED GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED DC,20, 191.8.

Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JOHN WARD, 0F BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- CONSTANT-MESH CHANGE-SPEEI GEAR.

Patented Mar. 16, 1920.

I Application filed December 20, 1918. Serial No. 267,641.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN W ARD, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and resident of Blackburn, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Constant Mesh Change Speed Gear, of which the following is a specification.

This invention refers to what is known as constant mesh change speed gear for use chiefly with motor road vehicles. Heretofore, such gear has usually consisted of epioyclic spur gearing only, occupying a comparatively large space.

According .to the present invention, the gear consists essentially of a combination of epicyclic spur gearing and epicyclic bevel gearing so compounded as to give, inclusive of a direct drive, three forward speeds and also a reverse speed preferably equal to that on the lowest forward speed, said gearing as a whole lying in small compass.

The invention will be further described withreference to the accompanying drawing shaft andb the: final driven or transmission shaft, the two shafts being in line, and their ends abutting as shown. 0 c are the sun pinions of the. two epicyolic spur wheel gear trains, both keyed to the shaft (4. (1 ,12 are the planet pinions of the said gear trai11s,fand 0 e are the internally toothed gear rings of said gear trains. Bo'th gear rings are loose upon their axes. 7' are the planet pinion carriers .or cages to which. the studs f are secured, said studs forming the axes of the planet pinions. The planet cages are both loosely mounted upon the shaft a. 9 g are the sun wheels of the epicyclic bevel gear train and '71 k the planet pinions of said gear train.

The'sun bevel wheel 9 is loosely mounted upon the driving shaft or and is secured by bolts and nuts f to the planet cage 7. The sun bevel wheel g is also loosely mounted upon theshaft a, and its hub extends to a point beyond the hub of the gear ring 6 thereby forming a journal or shaft forthe.

gear ring. 7

As shown in Fig. 2, the planet bevel wheels It, It? extend through segmental openings in the planet cage f and mesh with the wheels g g 7 Each planet cage is'formed with an annular flange and the said flanges, together with the gear rings, form brake drums. A

brake band is provided for each brake drum,v

the several bands being marked 1, 2, 3 andl respectively. At one end each'band is securedlanchored) to a stationary spindle 7', and at the other end it. is connected to a lever fulc'rumed upon the said spindle by which itmay be caused to grip the brake drum and hold the drum stationary or free the drum. i

To the hub part of the sun bevel wheelg is keyed the outer part j of a plate clutch j, the inner part j of said clutch being keyed to the driving shaft a. The said outer part of the clutch is secured to the flange 6 of a hollowshaft Z1 This latter fits and is keyed to the transmissionshaft b. The plates of the clutch will be controlled (pressed together or released) by any suitable means, the arrangement shown consisting of a plunger la projecting through'a hole in the flange 12 a lever Zfpivotally mounted upon flange 6 and carrying or. abutting against said plungeiya sliding collar on and spring a upon the shaft Z) and a lever 0, the spring.

n serving normally to move the collar m in one direction to engage the'clutch, andthe lever 0, when operated, serving to move the collar in the opposite direction to free the clutch. Y

The operations of the improved combined epicyclic spur and bevel gearing are as follows: For the'first or lowest speed the transmission shaft 6 is declutched from the driv planet pinion studs f of both spur gear trains, the sun and planet bevel wheels of the bevel geartrain, and the transmission shaft b rotating as one and'at a reduced speed, which, for example, may be one fourth of the, engine speed. For the second .ing shaft a and the'gear rings 6 ,0 of the )5 7 ring 6 of the first spur gear train is unbraked, and the planet cage f of such gear train braked, the other planet cage P re-' maining unbraked and the othq gear rmg 6 remaining braked. This results in the planet pinions (Z of the first spur gear train running idle, and the drive taking place through the second spur gear train and the bevel wheel gear train only, and in the bevel planet wheels M, k increasing the speed of the transmission shaft 6, which will be double the speed of the first (or lowest) gear speed. For the third or highest speed, both gear rings 0 c and both planet cages P, f are unbraked, and the transmission shaft Z) is clutched to the driving shaft a, when the drive takes place directly from the driving to the transmission shaft at engine speed.

For the reverse speed, the transmission shaft 5 is unclutched from the driving shaft a, and the planet cage f =of the second spur gear train-and the gear ring a of the first spur gear train are braked, the planet cage f of the first spur gear train and the gear ring 6 of the second spur gear train remaining unbraked. This results in the planet cage 7 of the first gear train with the sun bevel wheel 9 the second sun bevel wheel and the transmission shaft 6 being all rotated at the same speed as the first (or lowest) gear, but with the wheel 9, and shaft 6 rotating in the reverse direction to the driving shaft.

The gears are constantly in mesh on all speeds, and there is therefore no risk of damaging the gears when changing from one speed to another; 'furtheigthe motion is transmitted through the same gears for the first and second forward speeds and the reverse speed, and for the high speed the motion is transmitted direct from the driv; ing to the driven shaft, the gears running idle.

The improved gear will usually be inclosedin ,a box, as shown, which will allow of efficient lubrication, while excluding dust and dirt. v

The brake bands will be controlled by suitable gear changing devices. An example of such gear changing devices is shownin Figs. 3. to 6. These devices comprise a shaft 79, ca-

pable of sliding endwise as well as rotating for a portion of a revolution in its bearings. Upon said shaft is keyed a hand lever g. Such hand lever at its upper end lies in the slot of a gate change plate 0*. Upon the said shaft is also keyed a lever arm t which at itslower end is forked'and carries a wide bowl or roller t Upon a further axis or shaft parallel with the shaft ;0 is mounted the foot-lever s. Keyed to the foot lever axis, or in one with the foot lever is a cam lever arm 8 which at its free end is cranked or shouldered and rests upon the roller 25 see Fig. 4:. Connected to the foot-lever or its aXis is also a furtherlever arm .9 which by means of a rod or link 8 is connected to the lever arm 0 of the clutch j,see Fig. 1. Upon the shaft 29 is keyed a further lever arm a which at its lower end is formed with cam faces 14 said cam faces over-lying the'ends of four levers 12 ,0 c '0 and in operative relationship to any selected two of said levers. Said levers at their other ends he immediately under (or are linked to) the free ends'of the brake band levers i of the improved gear.

ings and the cam faces of the. lever arm a to depress levers '0 and'v thereby braking the gear rings and c For the second speed,- the hand lever g is moved into the notch 3, thereby first moving shaft 2) endwise and then in the arc of a circle and causing the cam faces of the lever arm a to depress levers e 42 thus braking the planet cage 7" and gear ring 6 F or the top speed or direct drive, the hand lever g is moved into'the notch 4:, thereby unbraking all the braked parts of the gear (if previously braked) and then clutching shaft Z) direct to shaft a. For the reverse speed, the hand lever q is moved into notch 1, whereupon the shaft pis again first moved endwise and then rocked, and the cam faces on lever arm to thereby caused to depress levers e and v when'the gear ring 6 and planet cage f are braked;

With each movement of the hand lever q into notches 1, 2 and 3, the lever arm I? lifts the cam lever s xand thereby operates the clutch lever 0 to declutch the shafts a, Z) and hold them declutched. With the movement of the hand lever 9 into notch 4-, the bolt 6 allows the free end of the cam lever s -to fall and the spring a to reengage the clutch j. 1 V 1 With the foot lever 8 connected to the clutch lever 0 and independent of the hand requires to be clutched and declutched to and from the driving member at will.

What I claim is 1. Constant mesh change speed gear, comprising two trains of epicyclic spur wheels and a single train of epioyclic bevel wheels, driving and driven shafts upon which said gear trains are operably mounted, and clutch mechanism by which the motion of the driving shaft when the gear trains are inoperative may be transmitted direct to the driven shaft, the planet cage of one of the trains of spur wheels lying between the sun bevel wheels and carrying the planet pinions of the bevel gear train, and the gear'ring and planet cage of each train of spur wheels having a brake surface, a brake strap for each of the said brake surfaces, and means for selectively bringing the straps into and out of contact with the brake surfaces, as set forth.

2. Constant mesh change speed gear, comprising a driving shaft and a driven shaft arranged end to end, an epicyolic spur wheel gear train, the sun pinion of which is keyed to the driving shaft, while the planet ca e of such -ear train is loosel I mounted on the driving shaft, said planet cage and the gear ring of the said epicyclic gear train being each formed as a drum, a further epioyolic spur wheel gear train, the sun wheel of which is keyed to the driving shaft, and the lanet cage of which is loosely mounted on t e driving shaft, said planet cage and the gear ringof the further epicyclic gear train being also each formed as a drum, an epicyclic bevel wheel train, one of the sun wheels of which is secured to the planet cage of the first named spur wheel train, while the other sun wheel of the bevel wheel train, which has an elongated hub part connected to the driven shaft, is loosely mounted on the said driving shaft, the planet pinions, of the bevel wheel train being journaled on the planet cage of the second named epicyclic spur wheel train, a clutch between the said driving and driven shafts, means for causing said clutch to connect the driven shaft to the driving shaft, or free the driven shaft from the driving shaft, a brake strap for each of said drums, and means for bringing the straps into and out of contact with their respective drums, substantially as herein set forth.

3. Constant mesh change speed gear, comprising a driving shaft and a driven shaft arranged end to end, two trains of epicyclic spur gear wheels and a single epicyclic bevel gear train arranged side by side on said shafts, the planet pinions of the bevel gear train being journaled on the planet cage of one spur wheel train and one of the sun wheels of the bevel gear train being secured to the planet cage of the other spur wheel gear train, means for holding stationary, or freeing, any one of the planet cages and 7 gear rings, and means for clutching the driving shaft to the driven shaft, the gear ring of the second spur wheel train being permanently connected to the driven shaft, substantially as herein set forth.

- In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN WARD. Witnesses JAMES CRoss, JAMES ROBINSON. 

